Secret talks to put cricket back on BBC

The success of Australia’s Big Bash League has prompted wholesale changesJASON O'BRIEN/GETTY IMAGES

The director-general of the BBC has met English cricket chiefs to discuss the possibility of televising live matches for the first time since 1999.

Lord Hall of Birkenhead summoned senior officials from the ECB for talks about buying rights to the new city-based Twenty20 tournament that is due to launch in 2020. He told them that the corporation could boost the profile of the competition in the same way that it has the FA Cup, which it has shown since 2014.

The BBC ... would like to ensure that it gives cricket a proper platform as it did for the FA Cup

Live domestic and England cricket has not appeared on the BBC since it lost the rights to England Test matches 19 years ago. It has not been shown on a free-to-air channel since 2006.